Avalanche player grades from win over Wild

That was a fun game to watch, I don’t think anyone is going to deny that. The Avalanche not only claimed a comfortable 5-1 victory off the hands of great offense and stalwart defense, it all came against their division rival. So that makes the performance that much sweeter. Unfortunately, it appears as though the Avalanche may have lost Erik Johnson for at least a few games after falling hard on his face. I know it’s cliched, but Colorado will need to continue to embrace that “next man up mentality” so early in this season.

FORWARDS:

Andre Burakovsky – (B+)

It was good to see Burakovsky doing the things that he was doing tonight. Burky set up J.T. Compher perfectly for that fifth goal on the power play, and boy was it a beauty of a pass. Two points for what was a fun performance from him.

J.T. Compher – (B)

Call J.T. Compher: 877-GOALS-NOW. CALL NOW!

It felt refreshing to have more of the third line getting in on the goal-scoring action. Compher’s goal was the fifth and final of the night for the Avalanche, and hopefully that perfect setup from Burky is enough to help get the monkey off his back for the center.

Joonas Donskoi – (B+)

Donskoi is continuing his recent success, netting his third goal in five games. If you’re the Avs, you’re loving that sort of production from your third line veteran. Donskoi found a way to crash the net and be in on his lonesome while Saad delivered the perfect feed to bury it.

Tyson Jost – (B-)

A quiet night for Jost, but was a very solid killer when Colorado was shorthanded. It seems the PK is where he has been settling into some of his best play, as well. Early in the third, Jost had a good shift with a long offensive zone possession where he was finding the open man with ease. However, Jost also led an odd-man rush with both of his wingers and elected to shoot while both Wild defensemen closed in on him, ending the scoring chance.

Nazem Kadri – (B)

Kadri was in a weird spot as he was not on the ice for any of the five goals scored tonight. His linemates finished with four points tonight and he was the odd man out. Kadri still wasn’t afraid to get into the dirty areas, though, and was a physical body on the forecheck.

Gabe Landeskog – (A-)

There is something about Landeskog’s net-front presence that continues to amaze me game after game. Whenever he’s on the ice, he’s just seemingly always there to make life difficult for the goaltender for the Avalanche. Tonight was no different. Landeskog led the breakout that resulted in Rantanen’s impressive top-shelf goal and grabbed the apple.

Nathan MacKinnon – (A-)

Even when MacKinnon isn’t having a breakout performance, he still finds a way to bring awe and inspiration to those watching. He’s still trying to find his first even-strength goal of the year and had some issues puck handling tonight. Even so, MacKinnon racked up two assists, including the cross-ice pass to Saad in the third.

Val Nichushkin – (C+)

Nichuskin was one of those players who stood out tonight on the penalty kill primarily. His poke check that lead to Logan O’Connor’s rush stood out to me.

Logan O’Connor – (B+)

Not only was I impressed by the fourth line’s performance given their circumstances, I was even more impressed by the amount of heart O’Connor played with tonight. O’Connor was the one who opened the scoring tonight but also generated a few scoring chances on his own. The rush he was given not only killed time off on the PK but also presented O’Connor with a good wraparound chance on goal.

Mikko Rantanen – (A)

The top line tonight was explosive to start every single period. Rantanen was also just explosive throughout the game. You’re obviously doing something right when you’re tied with McDavid for the NHL goal-scoring lead with seven. His goal tonight (which is now his fifth in five straight away games) should have the whole league on alert for what’s ahead.

Brandon Saad – (A-)

It finally seems that Saad is settling down with the Avalanche, now. With an incredible behind the back pass that set up Donskoi, to his non-yielding fight to score a goal after he posted his first shot seconds before, Saad played aggressively and incredibly smart. His goal and assist put him up to seven points on the year.

Kiefer Sherwood – (B-)

What can I say? Kiefer did what was needed of him on the fourth line. I liked his positioning on the O’Connor goal.

DEFENSEMEN:

Bowen Byram – (B+)

I like how much Byram is settling in on his own side of the ice. His reverse hit on Bjukstad will be a fun highlight to look at over and over again. He had a giveaway on the power play, but he seems to be settling just fine with the Avalanche. Which is good because they’re absolutely going to need him.

Sam Girard – (B+)

Girard had a few really good backchecking sequences which disrupted Minnesota breakouts. What really impressed me was his stickhandling in the offensive zone. His patented spin-o-rama created tons of space multiple times and helped to disrupt the D enough to open lanes. His second assist where he drew two Wild players to him showcased his vision on his eventual assist.

Ryan Graves – (B-)

Grave fulfilled his job as a big man on the ice. With a blocked shot, hit and a takeaway, Graves’ size helped to eliminate the few chances the Wild generated.

Erik Johnson – (N/A)

Johnson has only been able to play three games this season. To see him fall the way he did to the ice was hard to watch. I hope it’s nothing serious, but I cannot imagine he isn’t out for a few games at the very least.

Cale Makar – (B)

Makar led the team in Time On Ice with over 25 minutes out there in lieu of Johnson’s absence. He also led the team with five shots on net, but can’t seemingly crack open the floodgates, yet. I liked the way he played tonight, overall.

Conor Timmins – (B)

Avs played a sound game defensively, and Timmins was one who helped to lock it down when he was on the ice.

Philipp Grubauer – (A+)

If it wasn’t for a flukey bounce off of his noggin, Grubauer could have had his third shutout in eight games. Grubs made some very good kick saves when he needed to early on and his cross-crease sliding save on Dumba should pump him up full of confidence for when the Avs return to Denver.